Though fruit and vegetable sales grew 0.5 per cent, aided by an 85 per cent jump in vegan and vegetarian food thanks to the addition of 30 new dishes, ambient food sales and home and general merchandise sales dropped 2.3 per cent and 3.3 per cent respectively.

John Lewis also saw its overall sales dragged down by poor home performance, with the category posting a 6.2 per cent sales drop, leading to a total drop of 2.3 per cent.

Despite a four per cent rise in fashion sales, with menswear and beauty, wellbeing and leisure sales performing especially well, electricals and home technology sales offset this with a 4.8 per cent decline.